Ideas for Celebrating the New Year at Church

Your church’s congregation may be looking for a spiritual way to celebrate the New Year and the new beginnings it represents. There are a few ideas for New Year’s church services you could plan. We’ll go through a couple of them to help you find the right option for your church.

Getting Started

Oftentimes, the holidays that are more closely associated with the church are Easter and Christmas services. Your New Year’s celebration or service doesn’t necessarily have to be a huge happening, but it can still foster worship and community.

Planning this event shouldn’t fall on one person’s shoulders. Working with a team will make the entire process easier, including spreading the word about it throughout the congregation and community.

Before you start event planning, talk with people and find out what type of activity would best serve the church. Depending on your congregation, a kid-friendly event may be the best option. Or, you could create a service that’s based around prayer, song, reflection, and resolutions for the upcoming year.

New Year’s Eve for Children

If your congregation is comprised of families with younger children, plan your event for earlier in the day. Hold a countdown at an earlier hour to accommodate early bedtimes. You could even celebrate Noon Year’s Eve.

Your family-friendly event might include:

Board games or sports
Crafts
Children’s videos
A bounce house
A photo booth with costumes
Music and dancing
A balloon drop
Snacks or activities that happen once every hour

Watch Night Services

This tradition dates back to the early 18th century. It was originally a contemplative vigil. But this event evolved into more of a joyous celebration in 1862, when African Americans stayed up all night in anticipation of Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation the next day.

Watch Night services are intended to be family-friendly, but they tend to be more spiritual than a children’s New Year’s party. Your service may include upbeat stories, readings, song, prayer, and a candlelight procession.

These services are often held earlier in the evening, so people can head home to celebrate or attend other parties afterward.

New Year’s Eve

Here are several ideas for New Year’s Eve worship services:

Themed service: Some possibilities include themes of reflection on the past year and renewal for the coming year or the imagery of light overcoming darkness to symbolize hope and new beginnings
Thanksgiving service: Design a service centered around giving thanks for the past year’s blessings, encouraging congregants to share their testimonies of gratitude
Prayer Vigil: Host a prayer vigil leading up to midnight, where the congregation can pray for personal, community, and global concerns
Praise and Worship Night: Organize a night of continuous praise and worship, with a mix of contemporary and traditional songs

New Year’s Day

If your parishioners are busy on New Year’s Eve, celebrating with friends and family — another option is throwing a New Year’s Day church service or event. An after-service church brunch can be a great way to welcome in the new year.

Planning a charitable event is another great way to start the new year off right. Recruit volunteers, so your congregation can gather together to help at a local soup kitchen or food bank. Or, hold a donation drive for old clothes, books, or toys.

These ideas can help your parishioners ring in the new year and celebrate with their church community. We hope that you and your church have a fantastic New Year’s Eve and Day!

If you could use some extra folding tables and chairs for your church events, get in contact with us at ChurchPlaza. We also have banquet chairs that are perfect for a church hall event as well as a worship service.

Thomas McElheny